IMPORTANCE OF PLANNING

Definition

“A process concerned with defining goals and deciding on the task and resources to be used in order to achieve the goals”

OR

“Planning is the time-bound utilization of limited resources for meeting the needs on a priority basis”

• Planning is all about creating advantageous circumstances for oneself later in life. Planning is an important process that helps one in developing his goals for his future. Remember, if you are not planning for success, you are planning for failure. This means that to achieve success, planning is a must for everyone.

• Planning can be both long term and short term. In life, there are always goals that need to be accomplished earlier than some goals that can be pushed back for later in life. For early goals, there is short term planning and for later goals, there is long term planning.

Action Plan

• Depending on the goal, Action Plans could be a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, yearly or any other suitable time frame. For example, a healthy eating and exercise plan may have daily actions if you want to be very specific about your activities, whereas a budgeting plan may only have weekly actions, and career development goals maybe even longer.

• It doesn’t matter which timeframe you adopt chose the one that best suits the level of control you want to have over the Action Plan. Daily action plans will have the highest level of control. 

Importance of Planning

• Twenty minutes of planning per day can improve your productivity many times. Affording yourself time to plan now will pay off in the future. Planning daily will ensure that you are staying on track with your goals and you will become more tasks oriented. By simply taking 15-20 minutes to go through what your objectives or outcomes are, you will be more likely to achieve them and not get sidetracked which is quite easy to do when you have lots to do!

• Planning provides the framework for informed decision making -By planning what you are going to do you will be establishing a framework and will be able to tick off items from your “to-do” list as you go along. Planning will minimize impulsive and arbitrary decisions.

• Planning reduces crisis management and uncertainties Planning provides a clear sense of direction and when you plan effectively there is less likelihood of any critical/urgent issues coming up. Having a plan makes it much easier to deal with unexpected. 

Why Planning Fails

1)   Lack of Clarity:-

→ If goals are not clear, supporting action plans will fail.

→ Goals must be personal and meaningful; otherwise, you’ll have no reason to achieve them. You need to work out what YOU really want, not what other people think you want.

→ Example ls popular Goal of “making more money” mean to you? This goal is meaningless unless you have a reason driven by your desires and needs. You need to ask yourself “Why do I want to make more money?” To keep up with your neighbor or friends is not a meaningful reason. To pay for better education for your kids or to live in a safer area or to provide security to your family and loved ones they are all meaningful reasons because they are personal to you.

2). Being unrealistic:-

→ Remember S.M.A.R.T. Goals! Just because you’ve written down a goal doesn’t mean it is just going to happen. You need to put effort to achieve your goals, and the only way you’ll be able to get there is if the goals are reasonable and realistic. If you set unrealistic goals, you’re just setting yourself up for failure.

→ For example, we all know that you simply can’t lose 10 kg overnight or you can’t complete the marathon if you haven’t been practicing. You need to set realistic deadlines if you want to achieve these goals. Remember, it takes longer to learn a new skill or to quit old habits. So set realistic deadlines.

3). Not taking action:-

→ Having a meaningful goal in writing is only half the. the story you need an action plan to tell you how to get there. All successful missions have had a plan or strategy. The analogy of the map “the goal is the destination; the map is how to get there.” Take the time to plan the journey so you take the best route.

→ Having a perfect plan aimed at getting you to that dream destination is not worth anything if it just sits with you you must act on your plan! The plan will guide you and tell you what to do if you are ready to take the first step. In the words of Nike Just Do It!

4). Getting Distracted:-

→ Success at achieving your goals requires single-minded focus, commitment, and perseverance. Sometimes your energy could also be low and you’ll consider quitting, but it’s important not to give up. Visualize the outcome of your goal and Continue!

→ To help keep you focused, try taking the help of a close friend or personal mentor. You can share your successes and failures with them to help you grow from these experiences.

5). No Follow-Through:-

→ Planning is a continuous process. This is your road map, your life guide, and needs to be referred to constantly to make sure you’re continuing to go in the right direction.

→ Your priorities and your goals may change from time to time (for example if you start a family) and if this is the case, it is important to sit down and go through the goal-setting process again to make sure your goals still have that personal meaning to make you WANT to achieve them. 

SOLUTION

THANK YOU😊